Antique & Classic Cars Blog

New Old Stock parts are great–parts made at the same time as your classic but never fitted (and which sat on a shop or garage shelf for many years unused before surfacing to claim a high price from collectors). A 215 V8 bellhousing is a rare piece. I’ve had two for the four-speed gearbox over the years. One I sold–dumb–so I had to find another.

Bloodhound internet tactics led to the second but unlike the first I scored, from a junkyard on the West Coast, the second one did not have the clutch/flywheel inspection cover that bolts to the bottom. The stock piece was stamped steel. I hunted around a lot, including much lost sleep in eBay, without finding one.

Luckily, this rare part is back in circulation, thanks to Steve Schroeder of San Diego. He found a 215 posting on our site and got in touch. He told me he was planning to make a cast aluminum cover and now has done so. He also makes the four-speed bellhousing–including offset versions for Chevy gearboxes. When you can’t get new old stock, new “old” stuff will do.

The cast part looks great. The one I have could stand a little flat filing for a dead perfect fit against the bellhousing, but the stock stamped ones didn’t fit perfectly snug either–there’s no need, since this isn’t a fluid-filled chamber. And the best part about the new one is that you don’t have to clean 45 years’ worth of grime out of it. This part is so hard to find and Schroeder Enterprises as yet has no web page, so I offer the phone number here as a service to readers with 215 V8 cars. Because of this engine (and its Rover successor’s) light weight (320 pounds) and good horsepower (185 or so in stock, high-compression, 4-bbl form) it is a very popular swap still. Just look at the British V8 website.

People hunting 215 V8 4-speed bellhousings or the inspection cover can contact Schroeder Enterprises at 619-423-3523.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 16th, 2009 at 1:24 pm and is filed under Car parts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.